No Greater Love
by rewob17
Summary: Danny and Steve are in an explosion, and everyone is sure that Steve is dead. But Danny's dreams seem to tell him otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0 or the characters. I'm just having some fun.

A/N: First, thank you to all who have messaged me in the last year or so wondering when I'd have another story posted. I swear I didn't intentionally lie when I told you "soon". Real Life has really interfered over the last year so this story took me an insane amount of time to write and then rewrite.

A huge shout out and thank you to Fifilla, Wenwalke and TheDogo - without your encouragement this story never would have been finished and it certainly wouldn't be as good. I must also thank you all for the discussions regarding plot and the beta, but any and all mistakes are solely my own.

One final note for this first chapter: Trust me.

* * *

Danny Williams slowly walked to the front of the Kukui High auditorium. He leaned heavily on his cane with his left hand while trying to maintain his balance. His right leg was in a brace and right arm in a sling. The white bandage on his temple stood in stark contrast to his black clothes and the dark purple bruising that covered the right half of his face. He carefully maneuvered up the five wooden steps to the raised stage and reluctantly walked to the podium. He surveyed the assembled crowd. A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips at the standing room only crowd. He saw a sea of Naval uniforms standing at crisp attention at the back of the auditorium with Joe White among them. He avoided looking at the front row he had recently vacated. He would never be able to continue if he did. Throughout the service, Mary Ann had been clinging to Aunt Deb, tears streaming down both their faces. Grace sat rigid between his own mother and father. He was still a little surprised that his parents had flown out though he appreciated their support. Danny couldn't look at the rest of that row either, for to look at Chin, Kono and Grover would absolutely tear him apart and be his undoing.

"Not once in the last five years did I ever think that I would be standing here like this. I always thought the situation would be reversed," Danny's lips quivered. He cleared his throat and leaned on the podium as he forced himself to continue, "We are here to celebrate the life of my partner and friend, Steve McGarrett. Steve was more than my partner; he was my brother in every sense of the word. The first day I met Steve we, uh, we didn't get along so well, but before I knew what hit me, I couldn't imagine having another partner. We've been through some tough times in the last five and a half years, but we've gotten through it," Danny swallowed down a lump in his throat and gripped the podium as he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure how I'm going to go on without him now... and I can tell you that I don't want to."

Danny made it three halting steps from the podium before the dizziness washed over him. His cane wobbled and his knees buckled before he suddenly dropped to the stage floor eliciting a gasp from the other mourners. One of the last things he saw was the team, _his_ team now, and Grace rushing towards him. The very last thing he saw as his vision blurred was a middle aged Navy officer in the back suddenly slip out without a backward glance.

 _Steve and Danny pulled up to the South Shore Marina. Steve looked down the rows of boats for a moment and then down to the address of the boat they were looking for. He pointed to their right, "The slip should be three or four down that way."_

" _Why does it have to be a boat?" Danny groused._

" _We live on an island, Danny. That means we're surrounded by water. It stands to reason that we're going to have to talk to people on boats sometimes."_

" _Yeah, I suppose."_

 _Steve smirked at his partner for a moment but didn't move. He stared down the row of boats._

" _What are you waiting for? Christmas?"_

" _I dunno." Steve shrugged. "I just have a bad feeling."_

" _Should I get my vest on?" Danny was ready to gear up for trouble on Steve's vague feeling alone._

" _Nah." Steve shook himself and smiled broadly, "We're just here for a couple of routine questions, right?"_

 _Danny studied him for a moment, willing to trust Steve's instinct. "Yeah, a few routine questions... are you sure we shouldn't call for backup?"_

 _Steve reached over and clapped Danny on the shoulder. "You are the backup remember?"_

 _Danny gaped for a second and finally smiled as they both got out of the Camaro."Okay, okay, I walked into that one, didn't I?"_

" _C'mon, let's do this and then we'll call Chin and Kono and have them meet us at Kamekona's for lunch."_

" _You buying?" Danny wondered and then cocked his head in amusement when Steve started to hold up both hands, palm up, "I know, I know... you forgot your wallet." Danny held out his own hand with a grin and wiggled his fingers, "If you don't have your wallet, you don't have your license. If you don't have your license, you can't drive my car so hand over the keys. I'll be driving back when we're done here."_

" _You can't be serious." Steve's face fell._

" _I can, and I am." Danny's smile got wider when he saw Steve's hand tighten on the keys. "It's against the law to drive without your license. As a duly sworn officer of the law, I would have to arrest you."_

" _I think I'll just hold onto the keys until we're done here." Steve made a show of putting the keys in his pocket. He did an about face and practically marched down the dock and stopped at the boat they were looking for, four down from the entry, leaving Danny standing next to the Camaro with his right hand still outstretched._

 _Danny glowered after him before aiming an amused smile at his partner's back. He was just opening his mouth to yell at Steve to wait up when the boat exploded. The blast picked Danny up and threw him over the Camaro depositing him in the empty parking space on the other side._

 _Within seconds, Danny was up and running for the burning boat despite white hot pain in his right knee and the fact that his right arm dangled uselessly at his side, shoulder dislocated from the impact of landing. He swiped at the blood running down his face from the lacerations on his temple caused when his head hit the ground. Before he could do anything else, a secondary explosion threw him into the water between two houseboats. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Steve's head sinking below the water._


	2. Chapter 2

Danny became aware of his surroundings slowly. He kept his eyes closed and breathing even as he listened to the voices around him and tried to decide if he wanted to be awake. He had the oddest feeling that life would be easier if he stayed asleep. His head pounded, and he soon became aware of his shoulder and knee throbbing. He felt the small, plastic tubing under his nose along with the cool push of oxygen as he inhaled. He tried to flex his hand but stopped at the pinch of an IV as the tape holding it in place pulled at the tiny hairs on the back of his hand.

The voices around him sounded worried, he realized, but he continued to remain still, not sure why he was hesitant to fully wake. Then it hit him, and he couldn't hold in the sudden gasp: Steve was dead! His eyes flew open and he jolted up, "Steve!"

Danny's hospital room fell silent for a split second before there was a sniffle and Danny felt a small, familiar hand on his arm, "Danno... Uncle Steve is gone... Don't you remember?"

Danny tried to nod as he held out his hand to Grace. He pulled her to him and let her climb up onto the bed with him. She settled next to him and buried her face in his good shoulder. He could feel her hot tears through his thin hospital gown.

He felt a larger, but gentle, hand on his right shoulder and rolled his head to see who was there, "Chin?" His voice begged the older man to reassure him that Grace was mistaken.

Chin frowned, tears sparkling in his eyes, "You don't remember?"

Danny started to respond, but then his dream, or whatever it had been, came back to him. He swallowed hard. He felt tears burn the corners of his eyes, but he fought them off, not willing to cry in front of Grace.

"Grace, dear, why don't you come with us?" Danny realized his parents were also in the room. His mom was leaning down to talk in Grace's ear while rubbing soothing circles on her back. Behind her, he could just see his dad leaning against the wall.

"I wanna stay with Danno," Grace's muffled voice came from the pillow.

"Sweetie, it's getting late, and your dad needs to rest," Danny met his dad's look with an approving nod. "Remember Dr. Lee said he could come home tomorrow if he gets some rest and feels better in the morning."

Grace sat up, wiped her face and looked at her dad, "Will you be okay, Danno?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, monkey, I'll be okay."

"One of will stay with him tonight, Grace," Chin smiled. "Just to be sure."

Grace nodded, "Thanks, Uncle Chin."

Danny was uncharacteristically quiet as his family left. Before he or Chin could say anything, the door opened again.

"Hi, Danny," Nurse Karen greeted him, "How are you feeling?"

Danny replied sharply, "How am I supposed to feel?"

Karen took his vitals and entered them into the tablet she carried without answering his question. When she was finished, she stood next to him and placed a gentle hand on his arm, "Seriously, how do you feel? How's your head?"

"It hurts," Danny said quietly.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Danny looked away, then spoke with more rancor than he meant, "I remember my best friend dying. Yes, I'll always remember that."

"I'm sorry, Danny," Karen sighed. "I'm not trying to be hurtful..."

"I know." Danny waved a hand wearily at her but didn't turn to look at her again, "I'm sorry... I just... I don't think I can process this yet."

"Do you remember what happened this afternoon?"

Danny pondered for a moment, trying to think past the disturbing memories he'd awoken with. He rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, the funeral... I, uh, was giving Steve's eulogy," he gulped. "Why am I back in the hospital? Doc discharged me before the funeral."

"Yes, Doctor Lee had released you... though he was hesitant." Karen reminded him.

Chin sat beside the bed opposite of where Karen stood and placed his own hand on Danny's arm, "You were more than adamant about leaving."

Danny looked at Chin and a hazy memory of arguing with Dr. Lee and Karen about going to the funeral surfaced. It had been Chin who had interceded on his behalf. Danny wasn't coping well right now, but if he'd missed Steve's funeral, he would never have come to terms with this new reality. And he would certainly never be able to live with himself. He was grateful Chin had interceded on his behalf.

"Don't be alarmed if you're having trouble remembering things," Karen assured him. "You had a pretty severe concussion. Dr. Lee still isn't convinced you don't have a skull fracture even though the X-ray didn't show one. Add to that your dislocated shoulder, torn ligaments in your knee, bruised ribs and more bruises and contusions than we can count... plus the emotional trauma... Dr. Lee wasn't at all surprised when you collapsed. I think he's blaming himself for that."

"You were there?" Danny was surprised, more because he couldn't remember than because he didn't think they cared. They'd both worked with the team in the last couple of years and felt like Danny's personal doctor and nurse.

"Yes," Karen rubbed his shoulder briefly, "We wanted to make sure you were okay... and say our own good-byes."

Danny nodded, and then screwed his eyes shut as the pain in his head spiked. He swallowed convulsively and willed whatever was in his stomach to stay in place. He couldn't remember when he'd eaten last; all he could concentrate on was the pain in his head.

"Danny, you okay, brah?" Chin looked from his friend to Karen.

"Danny, let me go find Dr. Lee and see if we can give you something more for your head, okay?"

"Hang in there, Danny," Chin soothed as Karen left the room. "They'll get you fixed up."

Danny nodded and pressed a hand to his forehead as if pushing on his head could work the pain away. He carefully opened his eyes and looked at his friend, "You don't have to stay, Chin."

"There's no other place I need to be," Chin said quietly and smiled.

Danny pursed his lips. "Could you just go check and see if she's getting anywhere yet?"

Chin narrowed his eyes and then shrugged. "Sure, Danny, I'll be right back."

Danny heard the door softly click shut. His head still pounded, but it wasn't as bad as he was letting on. He really just needed a moment to think. When Karen had mentioned saying their goodbyes, he'd flashed back to standing at the podium, looking at the assembled crowd. He had planned to say so much more for the eulogy, but then he'd spotted one of the faces at the back of the crowd. He'd instantly felt the need to get out of there. He concentrated on remembering the face and tried to figure out why that one particular Naval officer looked familiar. He remembered the man smiling and walking out as Danny collapsed. Many of the other mourners had instinctively moved slightly forward as if to help. His headache spiked again as he remembered where he'd seen the man before. Could it be? Could he really have been at the marina right after the explosion? And, if so, why?

* * *

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites. I will be posting this regularly though I can't promise it will be every day though I'll try.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note and HUGE apology: This is an indication of how my life has been lately - I managed to skip an entire chapter while posting this story. Sigh. I'm so sorry for the confusion. So this is the correct chapter 3 and what you've (maybe) already read as chapter 3 is now chapter 4.

Thanks for sticking with me through this, and I'll try to be more careful from here on out.

* * *

Two hours later, Danny woke from a nap to discover that his headache was much more manageable. He still felt the overall ache which he attributed mostly to grief. He rolled over as gently as he could but couldn't help the groan that escaped as he pulled on various healing injuries.

"You okay?" Kono was at his side in an instant.

"Yeah," Danny took a tentative breath and exhaled slowly. He reached over and took her hand in his own. He noticed the dark circles under her reddened eyes. She'd either been crying recently or was holding back tears. He gave her hand a squeeze until she offered a small smile, "What about you? How're you doing?"

Kono gently sat on the bed and rubbed her hand over his back. She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and shrugged, "It all seems so unreal."

"Tell me about it." Danny snorted. "I don't even remember much of the last few days... wait, how many days has it been? I don't even know what today is."

"It's Saturday."

"Saturday? But that means it's only been two days since we went to the marina. Two days and we're doing a funeral? Are we even sure he's actually... dead. I know my head is still fuzzy from the concussion, but was... was his body ever recovered? How do we know he's really dead?" Danny started to get up, but Kono pulled him back down and wrapped an arm around him. She curled into his back. Danny relished the gentle hug from his friend and her closeness as he tried to process everything, "I mean, really, Kono, how do we know?"

"We know, Danny... we just know," Kono whispered into his shoulder. He felt fresh, hot tears wet the back of his shirt.

Danny squeezed Kono's hand as best he could, totally spent from his rant and the whole, lousy day. He could tell by her tone that there was something more she wasn't telling him. He thought he'd wait until he felt better before trying to find out what his friends were keeping from him. Within minutes, he and Kono had both fallen into an exhausted sleep.

H

5

0

" _I think I'll just hold onto the keys until we're done here."_

 _In his dream, Danny twitched as he realized what was about to happen. He could hear Steve's voice in his head and the last words he'd ever hear from his partner. He opened his mouth to shout a warning to Steve when the boat exploded. Again, he felt himself picked up by the blast and unceremoniously deposited him on the concrete. Again, he tried running to his partner as the houseboat burned. Again, a second blast, equally as powerful as the first, threw him into the water between two houseboats. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was Steve's head sinking below the water._

 _But Steve's head didn't just sink below the water. Danny realized that his partner had been pulled forcibly under the water. One moment, Steve was reaching for him, concern etched all over his face, and the next moment, he was yanked farther away and under the water, arm still outstretched towards his soon to be unconscious partner._

Danny jolted awake. Kono stirred next to him and then stilled. He evened out his breathing and was grateful he was no longer hooked to a heart monitor, or he was sure a nurse would have come rushing in to check on him. He sighed heavily to help dispel the feeling of his dream.

"Danny, you okay?" a quiet voice asked from the dark.

Danny jumped at the sound of the voice. "What? Who's there?"

A dim light came on behind Danny. He heard soft footsteps approach from behind. Between his injuries and Kono's proximity behind him, he couldn't move to adjust his view of the room to find out who his mystery visitor was. His heartbeat picked up again as he suddenly felt very vulnerable.

"You okay?" the shadowy form emerged from around the end of the bed and finally found its way into Danny's line of sight.

"Adam?" Danny squinted as the figure came closer.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Adam grabbed a nearby folding chair so he could sit by Danny. Two more chairs remained stacked in the corner.

"It's okay," Danny smiled as he felt his heart begin to return to normal again. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Kono told me she was going to stay for a few hours, but when I didn't hear from her I started to get a little worried so I came to check on her... and you."

"Thanks," Danny offered a wan smile. "I guess we kind of fell asleep. What time is it, anyway?"

"Almost midnight."

"No wonder you came looking for her." Danny realized they'd been asleep for hours. "You should take her home so she can get some proper sleep."

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny grimaced as he tried to wave his hand and felt a twinge from his healing shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."

"You're sure?"

"I'm just gonna get some more sleep," Danny lied. "I'll be fine."

"If you're sure..." Adam frowned.

Danny carefully shifted his weight and half rolled over so he could gently nudge Kono, "Wake up, Kono. Your boyfriend just caught us in bed together. You have to wake up and explain that this isn't what it looks like."

"Not to worry," Adam snorted. "I'm pretty sure it's exactly what it looks like, and that's fine."

Danny nodded at Adam and nudged Kono again, "C'mon, Kono, you need to go home and get some sleep."

Finally, Kono stirred and half sat up. By the time she'd brushed her mussed hair out of her face, she was fully awake. "Did you say something, Danny? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Danny smiled. "Adam's going to take you home to get some sleep."

"But..."

"No buts," Danny interrupted. "I'll be fine, and you'll feel better if you go home and get some sleep in your own bed."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine. If you must know, I need to use the little room over there, and I wouldn't mind some privacy for that."

Kono glanced at the restroom in the corner and back to Danny, "We could go get some coffee and come back in a while if you want."

"No, it's fine," Danny shook his head. "Really, just go home and get some decent sleep.

"You'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine, really." Danny insisted.

"Okay, but let me help you up first and help you with this," Kono jumped out of the bed and grabbed the sling, helping him slip his right arm into it again.

"Thanks," Danny had to admit his shoulder did feel better with the sling on.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Kono asked again. "We don't mind staying. Right, Adam?"

"Of course not," Adam agreed, placing a hand around Kono's shoulders and giving her a squeeze.

"I appreciate it, I do, but I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'm just gonna get some more sleep," Danny waved them towards the door.

"Alright," Kono leaned down to give him a quick, gentle hug. "Get some sleep, brah. I'll be back in the morning."

"Take care of yourself," Adam told him as he took hold of Kono's hand and led her towards the door as she hesitated.

Danny nodded and sighed in relief as the door closed behind them. He sat on the edge of the bed for a full two minutes after they left. To an outside observer, it might look like he'd fallen asleep sitting with his chin down on his chest, but he was recalling the details of his dream. He replayed the sequence over and over in his head, becoming more and more convinced that what he had seen in his dream was his concussed brain's way of reminding him of what he'd seen. He looked up, jaw set. He glanced around and smiled to himself as he found what he was looking for. He stood and grabbed the hospital issued plastic bag hanging on a hook under the dry erase board which proclaimed "Claudia" to be his nurse. He tossed the rumpled suit he'd worn to the funeral onto the bed and grimaced as he removed the sling once again and discarded it onto the bed. As he remembered Kono curled up behind him, he was grateful to realize that the hospital had not insisted on only the barely-there hospital gown but had allowed him to keep his boxers and tee shirt on as well. As fast as he could, he put on his suit pants and shirt. He briefly considered the tie and then decided it would help his escape. He had a greater chance of being seen as a late night visitor if spotted rather than the escaping patient he really was. He took a deep breath as he finished and allowed himself a hopeful smile. It was time to go find his partner.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: If you think you've read this chapter before, you're probably correct. I discovered that I totally skipped posting a chapter so I'm now fixing my error. Chapter 3 has been re-posted to the correct chapter and this is now correct as chapter 4. I beg your forgiveness for this huge mix up. My brain isn't what it used to be. Thanks for your understanding.

* * *

Chin arrived back at the hospital early the next morning. He smiled as he saw Kono and Grover arrive right behind him. He knew they were well before visiting hours and hoped they could all sneak in okay. He was counting on the nurses understanding their need to check on Danny. The hospital staff was well equipped to deal with Danny's physical injuries, but at this point, Chin was more concerned about his emotional state.

"Hey, cuz, weren't you staying with Danny last night?" Chin questioned as the others caught up to him.

"He told me to leave. Adam came by to check on us, and Danny said he didn't need a babysitter. He told me to sleep in a decent bed." She frowned. "Maybe I shouldn't have left him."

"Don't worry about it." Chin grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"Yeah," Grover chimed in. "He probably needed a little time alone. It's not like he's had a lot of time to deal with this."

The three rode the elevator to the third floor in silence. Thanks to the early hour, staff was scarce, Chin noticed as they stepped off the elevator. He nodded at a couple of nurses behind the desk as he passed. They had been quite accommodating the last two days and never enforced the visiting hours or the number of people in and out of Danny's room. Dr. Lee and Nurse Karen had done their best to make sure everyone knew Danny needed the support of his ohana along with the treatment the hospital provided.

The trio paused at Danny's closed door. A handwritten 'Do Not Disturb' sign was placed on the door.

"I don't remember that being there last night." Kono glanced at the others.

"Maybe Dr. Lee put it there?" Grover raised his eyebrows . "He did say he wanted him to get lots of rest so he could be discharged today."

Chin squinted at the note. "Maybe."

"Should we go in?" Kono motioned the two men towards the door. "They can't mean us, too, can they?"

Grover and Chin looked at each other and shrugged, but neither made a move to go in.

"Well, c'mon!" Kono nudged Chin towards the door. "But I'm not going in first... you know, in case he's not decent or something."

Chin smiled at Kono's slight blush at the mere idea before he reached out and knocked gently. He leaned his ear towards the door to listen and knocked again. Finally, he pushed the door open ever so slightly, "Danny? Danny, can we come in?"

"Is he sleeping?" Kono whispered.

Chin pushed the door open more, Grover close behind peeking over his shoulder. "Danny? We're coming in."

The dim light from the window showed them the rumpled, but empty, bed. They all stared for a moment before looking towards the bathroom door in unison.

"I'm definitely not checking in there," Kono muttered.

Chin gave her a look and stepped over to the door and knocked. "Danny? You okay?"

Chin listened intently at the door. Kono motioned to him when he looked over his shoulder.

"Maybe you should go in and check on him... maybe he fell again and can't get up... he could need help."

Chin knocked again and put a hand on the door knob. "Danny? Danny I'm coming in if you don't answer..."

Grover stepped closer while Kono took a step back and to the side as Chin opened the bathroom door.

"Danny?" Chin took a step into the bathroom and then another until he was all the way inside with the door swinging shut behind him.

Grover practically ran Chin down as he started to rush in behind him. He came up short as Chin quickly exited the bathroom, "Whoa! What's the matter?"

"He's not in there."

"What?" Kono looked around at the empty room as if he could have magically reappeared in the bed behind them. "Then where is he?"

"I'll go ask at the desk. Maybe they took him for tests or something," Grover flung his hands in the air and muttered as he walked out the door.

"Yeah, maybe." Chin grabbed the door as it started to close again and held it open.

"What is it, cuz?"

"Take a look at this." Chin flicked the paper affixed to the door. "Does anything look familiar?"

Kono leaned in and then pointed, "Danny wrote this, didn't he? That 'D' looks a lot like how he signs his name."

"That's what I think, too."

Kono switched on the room lights and walked over to the bed. She flipped the blanket back and frowned as she picked something up, "Chin... it's his sling. I helped him put it back on last night."

Chin nodded and slowly looked around the room. His eyes landed on the dry erase board with yesterday's date still written on it. He walked over and snatched the plastic bag off the hook; he looked inside and then threw the bag on the bed next to the discarded sling. "His clothes are gone. That's just his hospital gown."

"He left?" Kono pulled the gown out of the bag and reached a hand inside before she tossed it down again. "Why would he leave?"

Chin held her gaze but didn't say anything.

"Oh." Kono moaned. "This is all my fault. I should never have left him."

"It's not your fault, Kono." Chin quickly stepped over to enfold her in a hug. "If you would have stayed, he would have found another way. Or another time."

"But why? Where would he go?"

Grover burst back into the room. "No one at the desk knows where Danny is. The head night shift nurse, Claudia, is paging Dr. Lee now."

"His clothes are gone," Chin pointed at the left behind hospital gown.

"Gone?" Grover looked between the two of them, "You don't suppose he..."

"Kono, maybe you should call over to his house and see if his parents have heard from him before we jump to too many conclusions," Chin said. "Maybe he just wanted out of here and went home. We may have just missed him."

"I'm on it." Kono nodded and took her phone out to make the call.

"I'll call Mary and see if he went over there." Chin told Grover. "He may have just needed to go sit in those beach chairs and think."

"If not, we're gonna need to look at the security footage." Grover spoke softly with a quick glance at Kono.

"Yeah." Chin nodded and pulled his own phone out. At least it wasn't quite as bad as his last call to Mary had been two days ago. It would be a long time, if ever, before he forgot the sound of her sobbing and utter disbelief when he'd told her Steve was dead.

Chin and Kono got off their phones at the same time. They both looked at each other and in unison said, "He's not there."

Before they could formulate another plan of action, the hospital room door opened and Doctor Lee burst in followed by Karen and another nurse the team had not seen before. Doctor Lee swept a glance around the room and growled, "What is this I hear about Detective Williams being AWOL?"

"I'm sorry." Kono shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. "I left last night and..."

Chin put a hand on Kono's shoulder. "It's not your fault... Sorry, Doc. He talked us into leaving him alone last night. He said he was going to sleep, but I guess he had other ideas."

"Other ideas? So do we have any idea where he's wandered off to? It's not going to take much to make him collapse like yesterday. He really needs rest." Doctor Lee sighed as he looked between Danny's friends and the nurses. "Do we have any idea when he snuck out?"

Kono straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. "I left around 12:15 this morning. He said he was going to use the bathroom and go back to sleep."

"I checked in on him around 12:30," the nurse whose name tag read "Claudia" said, "He was in bed but awake. I took his vitals and urged him to go back to sleep. His pulse and heart rate were a little high but not too concerning; I figured it was just because he said he'd just been up."

"And you didn't check up on him again?" Doctor Lee wondered.

Claudia shook her head, "No, his chart said he needed rest. I was actually just coming down to check on him again when you all got here this morning."

"And the note on the door?" Chin pointed out. "Did you notice that in the night?"

Claudia shook her head, "No, I'm sorry. We were pretty busy last night with other patients. We had three new patients from the ER to settle in. One patient had a rough night so someone was in there every few minutes it seemed. Then Lacy, one of the other nurses had a family emergency and had to leave," she shrugged. "So I'm sorry, I'm afraid we didn't notice anything wrong in here."

"It's not your fault," Doctor Lee patted her arm. "I've learned first-hand that Detective Williams can be a bit of a handful and not particularly one to follow doctor's orders."

"We'd like to check the security footage," Grover said. "That should help us narrow down when and how he left."

"And do you have any idea where he's gone?" Doctor Lee looked around at the team.

"I think I might," Chin's voice was barely above a whisper.

"You think he went to find Steve," Grover stated, tilting his head slightly at the older man.

"But why?" Kono asked. "I mean, he asked me last night how we knew Steve was dead, and I told him we were sure... do you think he went to the morgue? Why wouldn't he just wait until this morning to go talk to Max?"

"Or he went to the marina." Chin looked at his teammates.

Grover and Kono nodded as they thought about it. Grover sighed. "We really need to see the security footage and see how he left the hospital. If he managed to get a cab, we might be able to track it down."

"I'll call security and tell them to expect you," Doctor Lee told them. "Claudia, would you show them to the security office, please?"

"Of course." Claudia led them from the room and to the elevators. "It's down on the first floor."

"Lieutenant Kelly, could you please keep me informed?" Doctor Lee requested. "And I'll keep his room open for him; I have a feeling he'll be needing it again... though I sincerely hope I'm wrong."

"Sure thing, Doc."

As they approached the security office, they rounded a corner and Chin almost ran right into an HPD officer.

Kono was the first to notice who it was. "Robertson! What are you doing here?"

Officer Robert "Al" Robertson had helped Five-0 with a few investigations. He'd proven himself quite capable of contributing positively to the team. He'd also picked up on their tendency to get into, and out of, scrapes. He smiled slightly. "I'm here to see my fiancée before I start my shift."

"That's right." Chin smiled, "Danny told us the news. Congratulations. Hopefully, we can meet her soon."

"Thanks," Robertson's grin increased as he took in the whole group, "but I think you already have."

Chin looked confused and noticed Kono and Lou seemed lost was well until Claudia stepped over to Robertson. "I'm sorry, Al, but I can't get coffee with you before your shift. I'm not off yet; we've run into a bit of a problem.

"This is your fiancée?" Chin looked at the two of them now arm in arm.

Robertson and Claudia both nodded and laughed.

"Well, congratulations to both of you then." Chin looked at them and then his smile disappeared. "I wish we could chat some more, but we really need to get going."

"What's going on?" Robertson's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the team.

"Danny snuck out last night." Chin told him. "We're going to look at security footage and see if we can figure out where he went."

"Let me know if you need any help," Robertson frowned. "I'm sure Sergeant Lukela could reassign me to you for a while. I'm off tomorrow so just let me know what I can do, and I'll do it."

"Thanks, Al. We'll let you know." Chin clapped him on the shoulder as he headed down the hallway again, Kono and Lou right behind.

They rounded another corner and halfway down the corridor was the door marked "Security". Claudia knocked once quickly and let them into the office. She waved at the burly guard behind the desk. "Scotty, we have a bit of a problem."

"Doctor Lee explained." Scotty motioned them all over to stand around him. The small office barely held them all. "I was just finding the feed from the third floor camera. Doc said we need to look after 12:30, but I backed it up to 12:00 just to be on the safe side. Let me know if you see something."

Chin watched as Scotty scrolled through the video. He noticed the others were just as intent on the screen. Kono and Adam walked by on screen around 12:15 just as Kono had said. Next, Claudia headed down the hall where he could just make out the edge of the doorway to Danny's room. She exited a short time later. Chin leaned in closer to get a better look at the screen as they waited to see when Danny would appear. He would have bet money on Danny leaving almost immediately. He would have lost that bet. He didn't appear until almost the 4:00 mark. Then he almost missed him.

"Wait!" Chin held out his hand. "Stop! Go back...and... stop!"

Scotty scrolled back and stopped, right as a knot of nurses came down the hall and congregated at the nurse's station. A lone figure, head down, kept going. The figure moved slowly and stiffly, right arm holding the front of a dark suit jacket together as he limped slightly down the hall. Even without seeing the face, there was no mistaking the shock of blonde hair.

"Danny," Kono breathed out as if there was any doubt.

Chin watched as the figure moved out of the line of sight of one camera, and Scotty deftly brought up another camera angle which showed him standing at the bank of elevators. Scotty's fingers flew over the machine as he brought up the first floor elevator cameras. Danny exited the elevators and headed for the outer doors of the hospital. Again, Scotty switched camera angles and Chin saw Danny step outside and look around. He walked to the curb and took another look around. He paused and then leaned on the fence lining the walkway. Two minutes later, a Kailua Coast Taxi cab pulled up and Danny pushed off the fence and got in.

"Stop!" Chin tapped Scotty on the shoulder and then pointed at the screen. "Can you zoom in there? I wanna see if we can get that license plate."

"Sure," Scotty zoomed in and after a little fiddling, had the license plate up on the screen; it was a little fuzzy but legible enough for them to read.

"Great, thanks," Chin quickly jotted it down, and then turned to the others, "I think we have what we need here. Let's go call Kailua Coast and see if they can track down the driver for us so we know where Danny went." He clapped the security man on the back, "Thanks, Scotty."

The trio left the Security office and parted ways with Claudia. Chin thanked her for her help as well and reassured her again that Danny's disappearance was not a reflection on her at all.

"I'll call about the cab." Kono offered and walked a few steps away to make the call.

"Do you really think he went back to the marina?" Grover asked softly. "I mean, why the marina? Unless... do you think Danny thinks Steve is alive and he's looking for him?"

"I think he might." Chin half-shrugged. "He's got a head injury. If he and Kono were talking about the explosion before he went to sleep, he may have had a dream and thought it was real. I think we need to find him before he hurts himself again."

Grover shook his head. "I think one way or the other, he's going to hurt himself again... if you know what I'm sayin'."

Chin agreed; they were all still coming to terms with Steve's death, but they'd all had the benefit of seeing the crime scene. They'd also had more time to come to grips with their new reality. Danny, on the other hand, was injured and lost time and memory of the event. Chin wished the memorial service hadn't been so rushed. He couldn't understand why the governor had decided to hold it so soon afterwards. It's no wonder Danny hadn't come to grips with anything; to him it had all just happened and finding out he'd lost his best friend and insisting on doing his eulogy all within 48 hours had obviously taken a toll on him.

"Okay," Kono joined them again, tucking her phone in her pants pocket. "Kailua Coast did pick up a fare from here and deliver him to the marina. He offered to let us come in and see their camera footage inside the cab; I told him to hold it for us in case we needed it."

"I don't think we need that right now," Chin decided but couldn't say more as his phone rang. He took it out and looked at the display, "It's Max... Hey, Max, what's going on?...Yeah... Right now? We have a bit of a situation... You're sure it can't wait? ...Alright, I'll be right there, okay?"

"What's going on?" Grover raised his eyebrows at Chin.

"I don't know; he won't say over the phone. You two go pick up our wayward boy from the marina and I'll go talk to Max. Give me a call when you find him, and if whatever Max has is important, I'll let you know."

* * *

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews, follows and favorites. I'm sorry if I don't get to respond to all of you personally, but I will try to do that at least once during the story.


	5. Chapter 5

_The force of the secondary explosion threw Danny against the side of a houseboat with a thud; he bounced off the side of the boat into the water between two houseboats. His head sank below the surface, but he managed to struggle upwards to take a gulp of smoky air. His chest ached. Probably a broken rib. His eye caught movement to the side, and he saw Steve struggle towards him. Before Steve could reach him, his momentum suddenly stopped and a panicked look crossed his face. Danny watched Steve disappear under water. For a split second, Danny thought he saw a form beneath Steve with a hand wrapped around his ankle. He lost sight of his friend when hands grabbed onto him as well. He struggled in their grip, but weakly gave in as he realized they were pulling him towards the dock._

 _Danny jerked as unseen hands laid him gently on the pavement. He rolled his head and realized that, though he had no recollection of it happening, they'd carried him across the parking lot and safely away from where the fire still burned. He dazedly looked around at the unfamiliar faces surrounding him and tried to push himself off the ground to go find his partner again. The hands held him down while worried voices started to filter through Danny's muzzy head._

 _Danny stilled for a moment as he focused on one of the faces leaning down. He recognized the man but didn't know how. He was sure he didn't actually know him but despite that, his presence sent a chill down his spine. He struggled as the unknown, but familiar, man grinned at him; it was not a pleasant sight._

" _Danny!"_

 _Danny's body rocked when he heard his name called. He looked around. The man had disappeared. He heard his name again, but he couldn't find who was speaking. The voice sounded familiar._

"Danny, c'mon, buddy, wake up."

Danny felt his body rock and realized someone was shaking his shoulder. Wait! That voice! He knew that voice, but... but he knew it had to be a cruel joke that his concussed brain was dreaming up. Didn't it? It had to be. Because otherwise... no, it just couldn't be. They'd all assured him of that. He tried to force his body to sink back into the welcome darkness, but as he felt the hand gently shake his shoulder again, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He slowly blinked open his eyes.

"Hey, buddy," a face came into view and smiled at him.

Danny's eyes focused and then went wide as he looked at the person talking to him. Momentarily forgetting about his injuries, he scrambled backwards until he could go no further. He tried to draw his knees up to his chest but the brace on his right leg stopped him from completing the action. He raised a hand in front of him as if warding off an apparition, "NO! It can't be. Stay back!" He drew his hand back and buried his face in his hands.

"Danny," the voice was barely a whisper now. "C'mon, man, it's just me."

"No," Danny vehemently shook his head. His voice trembled. "No, it's not just you... you're... you're dead.

There was a pause and then the voice again, even more gently than before, "It's really me, Danny. See?"

Danny tried not to flinch as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He lifted his head, willing his eyes to focus. He squinted at the figure kneeling in front of him, afraid to say his name. The last time he'd awoken and said his name, he'd been told that his best friend was dead. He didn't want to make the ghost in front of him disappear again, but he had to take the chance, "Steve?"

"Yeah, buddy, it's really me." Steve grinned.

"Steve?" Danny tentatively reached out a hand.

"Yeah," Steve's goofy grin matched Danny's own as he took his friend's hand and helped him stand, steadying him when he wobbled. Then, he pulled Danny towards him into a bear hug. His voice wavered a bit. "Yeah, it's me."

Danny returned the impromptu hug and thumped his partner's back before his body protested the treatment. "Oomph... okay, you Neanderthal, let me go."

"Sorry," Steve stepped back, but kept a hand on Danny's elbow to help keep him steady. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy," Danny grimaced and reluctantly let go of Steve's hand so he could clutch his side with his left hand while his right arm stayed tucked in to his body. "Feels great to be blown up."

"Tell me about it." Steve quickly agreed, massaging his own side.

Danny took a closer look at his friend's face, "Yeah, you've looked better... but I must say that for a dead guy you're looking fantastic."

Steve just grinned. "Feel pretty good for a dead guy, too."

"So what's the damage?" Danny pointed up and down at Steve. "You got hit by that explosion. I saw you disappear under the water.. pulled underwater?"

Steve nodded, "I got lucky with the explosion. It blew me into the light pole, I think. My side is sore, but I don't think anything's broken. I landed in the water and saw you get dropped in, too, but then I felt something on my leg. Next thing I know I was pulled under."

Danny snorted softly; his dreams had been trying to tell him something.

"They must have drugged me because I felt a sting on my arm and then nothing. I have no idea how I got here."

"So who are they and what do they want?"

Steve shrugged, "I haven't figured that out. They tried to work me over after I came to, but I managed to take down one of 'em. Almost made it out the door but they knocked me out. When I woke up, they'd done this..."

Danny heard something rattle and looked down when Steve jiggled a foot. Attached to Steve's ankles were two massive manacles connected to a short length of chain. Danny's eyes followed the chain to where it was fastened to a sturdy looking hook anchored into the floor. Danny clenched and unclenched his hands. His stomach did somersaults and his knees almost buckled. His partner was chained like a dog. Worse than a dog.

"Hey, it's alright, Danny." Steve grabbed his elbow again to steady him. "I got one of them pretty good."

Danny nodded, only partly mollified, "You better have. So who are they, and what did you do to them to make them do all this?"

"I wish I knew." Steve shrugged. "I haven't gotten a good look at them. They've kept their faces hidden. There's three of them. One of them sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place the voice."

"So they haven't said anything about why they faked your death and are holding you here?"

Steve frowned. "No, not yet. Other than to toss you in here, they haven't been back since they chained me up."

"Hmm," Danny wished he could think clearly. He was sure there was something they were missing, but the buzzing in his head was getting louder, making it difficult to concentrate.

Steve grabbed Danny's arm when he wobbled. "Here, why don't you sit down again?"

Danny groaned as Steve helped ease him back down to the floor and settled as best he could up against the wall. He hugged his right arm to his abdomen and offered a quick smile at his partner. "Thanks."

Steve knelt in front of his friend again and looked him over, squinting as he did so. Danny held his right arm tight against his body and listed slightly to the left as he leaned against the wall. Steve tsked as he lightly ran his hands down Danny's leg and then reached for his face. "Let me see your eyes."

Danny complied and let Steve tilt his head back even more. "I already know I have a concussion."

"I'm making sure it's not something worse." Steve glanced between both eyes before he released Danny's head and rocked back on his heels.

"Well, doc, whatcha think?" Danny smiled.

Steve returned the tired smile. "I think you're awfully dressed up for a rescue attempt."

Danny looked down at the rumpled suit he was wearing. "This is the suit I wore to your damn funeral."

Steve's teasing smile melted from his face, "Oh... sorry about that, but thanks for doing the eulogy."

Danny narrowed his eyes. "How do you know I did your eulogy?"

"It stands to reason," Steve shrugged, "but also because they recorded it and made me watch so that I'd know there wasn't going to be a rescue."

"They made you watch it?" Danny shook his head at the thought. "Sorry, man, that's kinda..."

"Weird?"

"Morbid," Danny looked at him. "I was going to say morbid."

Steve scooted over to sit shoulder to shoulder with him, "Yeah, I guess that works, too. But it was a nice eulogy. Thanks."

Danny snorted, "I didn't even say everything I was going to say... But I couldn't go on."

"I'm sorry, man. I really am." Steve shifted slightly. "You know that's when I lost it."

Danny glanced over, "When you lost it?"

"Yeah, they were laughing as I watched the video." He took a shaky breath. "When I saw you collapse... because of me... I lost it. I managed to break one guy's nose, I think. Sure felt like it broke when I hit him. But then they chained me up and haven't been back... I couldn't believe it when they tossed you in here a bit ago. "

"Sorry you had to watch that. Although... had I known you'd hear what I said, I wouldn't have been so nice."

Steve chuckled, "Thanks, buddy... So is that why you're here? Did you see the guy at the funeral recording or what? How'd you know to come looking for me?"

"Well, ummm..." Danny cocked his head, wondering himself how he had come to be here. "Yeah, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I don't really know," Danny stared at the far wall, trying to bring back the memories. "I mean, I kind of noticed this guy in a Navy uniform leave the funeral right after I collapsed. I didn't think I recognized him. But then every time I slept, I would dream about what happened. I think I was remembering because then I did recognize him, and I started to remember what really happened at the marina. Then I couldn't shake the feeling that you weren't dead so I had to come find out and... and here I am."

He nudged Danny's shoulder gently, "I've missed that."

"Missed what?"

"You and your ability to talk so much without taking a breath! So what's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"Yeah, the plan," Steve looked at him and frowned, "You're here so when do the others get here for the actual rescue?"

"Oh, ummmm..."

"The others are coming, aren't they? I mean, they do know you came after me and where you went, right?"

Danny shrugged. "I'm sure Chin will figure it out."

"Danny, did you tell anyone where you were going?" Steve sighed. "Aren't you always the one lecturing about back up?"

"Who would've believed me, huh? I told you it was just dreams. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I was making stuff up in my head, or if I really knew you were alive. All I had were some weird concussion induced dreams. I mean, they were so sure that you were dead when I asked them. If I'd said something, they would've made sure I was never alone and treated me like I was crazy or something."

"Well, I'm glad you're here, crazy or not."

"Thanks," Danny snorted. "This wasn't really part of the plan... well, I guess there really wasn't a plan per se."

"So what were you doing then? How did you end up here?"

Danny shrugged. "I just couldn't stay in the hospital any more. Every time I fell asleep I had those crazy dream memories. No one would give me a whole lot of answers so I went to the marina to look around. I'd just gotten to the burned out boat when I was blind sided. Whoever cold-cocked me must've been watching or something."

"Hmmm," Steve looked around. "I wonder..."

"Wonder what?" Danny nudged Steve when his voice faded away. "I'm not up to mind reading today."

"I wonder if we're just on one of the other boats in the marina."

Until the words left Steve's mouth, Danny hadn't realized they were on a boat. With the shock of finding his best friend alive wearing off, Danny took better note of their surroundings. He could feel the gentle rocking underneath him and noticed they were in an empty cabin on a small boat rather than just a windowless basement room. He shook his head, wishing it wasn't so fuzzy so he could think straight.

"I don't suppose you brought your cell phone with you so Chin can track the signal?"

Danny sighed. "Afraid not. My phone died in the explosion, too, but I don't think it's going to be resurrected any time soon."

Steve smiled and threw an arm around his partner. "It's alright. We'll manage. We always do, right?" Steve smiled and threw an arm around his partner. "It's good to see you, buddy."

Danny straightened a little to get a better look at his partner. A face he never thought he'd see in person again and couldn't help but smile despite their situation. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

* * *

A/N: Well, there you have it - Steve's alive. Now what? :-)


	6. Chapter 6

Kono slowly looked around the marina after she and Grover got out of her car. This was her first visit there since the explosion. It was easier to hold onto that faint hope that Steve was still alive rather than come face the grim reality in the guise of the burned out boat and other damage to the marina docks. She glanced around the parking lot, taking note of two cameras on light poles which seemed to be pointed in the direction of the boats' remains. She sighed heavily as she looked at what was left of the two boats. It was obvious that there was no way Steve could have survived the explosion if he was too close to the boats. Danny was very lucky to have come away with relatively minor injuries.

As if reading her thoughts, Grover touched her shoulder gently and softly said, "C'mon, let's find the manager's office and see if he noticed anyone hanging around early this morning."

"If Danny came here," Kono shuddered, "Why would he want to come back? Wouldn't it bring back all the bad memories? I'd think he'd want to avoid that."

Grover nodded, "Grief makes a man do strange things. Plus, he's got a head injury. His thought processes might not be all that logical."

Kono snorted and frowned sadly, "You know what Steve would say to that don't you?"

"I can imagine," a fleeting frown crossed his face as well. "C'mon, let's go."

Kono followed Lou to the marina manager's office which, despite the relatively early hour, was occupied. The manager was none too pleased to see the Five-0 duo.

"You better tell me that the mess out there is going to be taken care of. Time to get back to normal around here," he huffed, lifting a cracked coffee cup to his mouth. "I'm tired of all the cops comin' 'round. Insurance adjusters. All those pains in the ass... don't even get me started on the gawkers. Come to see where the great leader Five-0 leader got himself blowed up."

Kono put a hand on Lou's arm when she felt him tense beside her. "We just have a couple of questions for you."

"Go 'head," the man waved a hand around. "Not like I have anything better to do or nothin'."

"Did you happen to notice this man around here early this morning?" Kono held out her phone and showed him a picture of Danny.

The manager leaned over to study the picture and then shook his head, "Nope, never have."

"Maybe we could take a look at your security footage," Kono suggested.

"Security footage?"

"Yeah, I noticed you have a couple of cameras out in the parking lot."

"Those?" he shook his head. "Good luck. Haven't worked in years."

"Are you sure?" She was positive they hadn't looked too old, and she could have sworn she saw a red light indicating it was recording.

"Sure, I'm sure. Haven't worked since I started here. Four years ago. I never even pay them no mind no more."

Kono and Lou exchanged glances. Kono shook her head slightly at him.

"Okay, thanks for your time," Grover opened the door and indicated Kono should go first..

They emerged into the sunlight again. Kono went straight over to one of the light poles in the parking lot. She looked up at one of the cameras. She thought about shimmying up the pole, but before she could give it full consideration, her phone rang, "Chin, what's up?"

Aas Kono talked to Chin she paced around the pole and watched Lou as he again surveyed the scene. She saw him glance at the two cameras and noted their angle. She'd already noticed one pointed directly at the burned out boats and the other at the entrance to the docks from the parking lot. She watched him shake his head and was sure he'd come to the same conclusion she had - it wasn't a coincidence.

"C'mon," Kono slid her phone into her pocket and motioned to the car, "Chin said Max found something important. We have to go."

"What about Danny?"

"Chin thinks it's more important we meet him at the morgue, and then we'll figure out where Danny is," Kono felt like they were letting the Jersey detective down, but Chin had been adamant that they join him. She couldn't quite place his tone of voice as he'd told them to hurry.

H

5

0

Kono and Lou rushed into Max's office at the morgue. She wondered what was so urgent that it couldn't be relayed over the phone. They were met by not only Max and Chin, but Joe White as well. All three looked serious with an undercurrent of something else Kono couldn't quite put her finger on.

"What's going on?" Lou looked around.

"So Danny wasn't there?" Chin seemed a little too casual considering the circumstances.

"No." Kono shook her head, scanning the room for clues about why Chin had insisted they return so quickly. "What's going on, cuz?"

"Looks like you might be right." Chin nodded to Joe. "We might have a problem."

"A problem?" Grover threw his hands in the air. "I think we're way past "a problem" and have moved into "a situation" or even "an entanglement." What in the hell is going on around here?"

"I have discovered that it was not Commander McGarrett's body parts that were recovered from the marina after the explosion." He briskly walked around his desk and into to the autopsy room.

Kono saw Grover's mouth fall open before he practically ran after Max. "Wait, what?!"

Kono, not ever wanting to hear the words 'Commander McGarrett's body parts' ever again, was right behind him, "Say that again. You what?" She thought of the charred pieces of clothing, most notably a piece of khaki cloth that they were sure were from Steve's cargo pants. She swallowed down bile as she thought of the other damning evidence pulled from the water - part of a severed arm, with intricate tattooing, which Max had somberly informed them was from an upper right arm.

"This is not Commander McGarrett's arm as I first thought." Max whipped the cover off a lump to reveal the arm.

"Yeah, but why?" Kono was still a little flustered and the unceremonious unveiling of what was now _not_ Steve's arm didn't help. "I mean, how do you know it's not his arm, and how did you not know that before?"

"So if that's not Steve's arm, that means he could still be alive. Is that what you all are saying here?"

"I think it's highly likely." Joe confirmed. "It looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to make us think it was Steve killed in that explosion."

"And what about Danny?" Kono leaned back on an empty exam table, not sure if her head was spinning due to lack of sleep or the current conversation.

"Would somebody please just tell us what's going on?" Grover growled.

"We will," Chin assured her, "but we're afraid both Danny and Steve might be in trouble."

"A few days ago I overheard some disturbing news concerning Steve and someone from his past." Joe crossed his arms over his chest. "I headed back to Hawaii to tell Steve he needed to watch his back. I'm not sure who exactly was the problem so I decided to wait until I saw him to say anything. I guess that was a mistake. My plane landed two hours after the explosion. I tried to look into the rumors but didn't get anywhere. Then at the funeral yesterday, I thought I recognized one of the other Navy officers, but I can't quite figure out why he seems familiar. Familiar but out of place. I was going to follow him so I could talk to him. When Danny collapsed, I lost sight of the guy. I've followed a few more leads since then, but all I've heard is whisperings about Steve getting what was coming to him. Funny thing is, is that what I've heard doesn't sound like it was past tense. Makes me wonder."

"Commander White came here to ask me to run the DNA on the arm," Max jumped in. "but he didn't know that I had already sent a sample to be tested. Even though we were fairly sure it was Steve, I wanted to be completely sure. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to upset everyone. I was hoping to have the results before the memorial service, but that happened so fast that they weren't back yet."

"And that's something else we need to look into," Chin looked at them all. "The memorial service _was_ set up awfully fast, and now I wonder if there's more of a reason for that than we were told."

"I thought it was because the governor was going to be off the island for a few days and wanted to be sure he was at the memorial?" Kono reminded them.

"Exactly," Chin nodded, "but after Max told me what he'd discovered, I called the governor. He said that he had an aide make the arrangements. He'd told the aide that he would have postponed his trip for a few days to accommodate the memorial being held later. The aide was quite insistent that it be done this way."

"Hmm." Lou straightened to his full height and bounced on his toes just a little. "I wonder if the aide had another agenda in mind."

"That's what I thought," Joe pointed at Lou. "I think we need to speak with that aide."

"And I want to go back to that marina and check into those cameras some more." Kono pushed herself off the table she was leaning on. "If the dock manager doesn't know about them, maybe they have something to do with the explosion and whatever else is going on."

"Okay, Lou, you and Joe go see if you can find that aide, and maybe even the governor to see what's going on there. Kono and I will head back to the marina." Chin looked at her. "You can fill me in on those cameras on the way."

"Thanks, Max." Kono waved quickly and followed the others out in a flurry of new found energy. She hoped they would get to the bottom of this mystery and allowed herself to dare believe that perhaps Five-0 would be restored to full capacity once again.


	7. Chapter 7

Steve watched Danny sleep and still couldn't believe that Danny had found him. It made him feel better about his situation but now he was also worried; Danny didn't look very good. Steve reached for his wrist to take his pulse.

"Would you stop trying to hold my hand while I sleep?" Danny didn't even open his eyes.

"You're awake."

"Brilliant, Sherlock," Danny cracked open an eye and winced.

"Your head?"

"Yeah," Danny gulped. "It's pretty close to a migraine."

"Are you sure you just have a concussion? You might have a skull fracture."

Danny started to nod and then stopped. "Dr. Lee mentioned that was a possibility, but the scan didn't show one."

"We'll get outta here, Danno, and get you taken care of."

Danny nodded and nudged Steve, "And get you back to your ohana where you belong. That way they'll know I wasn't crazy for trying to find you."

"Oh, is that the only reason?" Steve chuckled.

"That's the big reason, yes," Danny grinned at him.

"Whatever works for you, pal."

Before Danny could reply, there were voices outside the door and they heard a key in the lock. They were still struggling to their feet when their captors entered. Steve knew they were in trouble when he saw the men were no longer disguising their faces.

"Awww, look at this. Ain't you two sweet?" The leader pointed at Steve holding Danny steady with a hand on Danny's arm as he tried to straighten.

The two henchmen snorted at the comment and nodded at each other in anticipation. The shorter of the two cracked his knuckles.

"What do you want with us?" Steve tried to step in front of his friend, but Danny adjusted his own position to remain firmly next to him.

"I'm insulted, Commander," the leader frowned. "I don't think you recognize us."

"I recognize him," Danny pointed at the man who'd just cracked his knuckles and shifted his gaze to speak directly to him,"You're one of the governor's aides."

"Very good, Detective," the leader pulled the man forward and slung an arm over his shoulders. "This is my baby brother. He's been instrumental in helping us pull this off."

"What'd I ever do to you?" Steve snarled at the governor's former aide.

"Oh, it wasn't him, Commander," the leader said. "I really am hurt that you don't remember us. You ruined our lives and don't even have the decency to remember us."

A small spark of a memory stirred in Steve's head. He squinted at the leader and the man half a step behind him, and it was all he could do to hold in the fury that came with the memory. "Jenkins and Peterson."

"Aww, you do remember us." Jenkins, the leader, placed a hand over his heart and smiled. "That will make this so much more satisfying."

Steve straightened and glanced sideways at Danny, "Detective Williams has nothing to do with what went down between us. Let him go, and I'm all yours."

"Steve," Danny squeezed his arm.

"And why would I do that, Commander?" Jenkins chuckled maliciously. "You and Freddy got us dishonorably discharged. You got Freddy killed, I heard, but you replaced him with Detective Williams. I figure he can just continue to stand in for him and take what should have been Freddy's punishment."

"You avoided jail last time, Jenkins. Let us go now, and you might not spend the rest of your life behind bars."

"You ruined my life!" Jenkins roared and gestured to his brother and Peterson. "Now, we're going to ruin yours."

The younger Jenkins grabbed Danny's left arm and pulled him away from Steve at the same time that Peterson lashed out, sucker punching Steve in the stomach as he reached to keep Danny close to him. Peterson followed that with an uppercut to Steve's jaw which made him double over and fall. His legs tangled in the chains as he struggled to get up again.

Steve caught glimpses of Danny struggling with his captor while the other two kicked and pummeled him. Just when he thought they were up against a losing fight, he saw Danny free his arms and surge forward to help. Danny grabbed an arm of one of the men as he reared back to throw a punch and flipped him off the heap of bodies. The distraction was enough for Steve to heave the other man off him and stumble to his feet. He was reaching for Danny when he was suddenly out of reach again.

"I don't think so," Jenkins snarled as he rolled over and swept Danny's feet out from under him.

Steve watched, helpless, as Danny was slammed to the floor and pulled backwards away from his limited reach. Steve growled as he noticed Danny's arm suddenly fall to his side limp when he tried to throw a punch. Probably dislocated now. Danny's mobility was also slowed by the knee brace and it didn't take long for the others to totally incapacitate him. Steve continued to struggle against the chains as they rained down kicks and punches on Danny. He called for him. Swore at their captors. Nothing worked. They only stopped when a kick to Danny's head caused his eyes to roll back. And he stopped moving.

* * *

A/N: You knew I had to have another evil cliffie at some point, right? :-) Enjoy your day.


	8. Chapter 8

Lou took the lead when they met the governor at his private plane. He noticed the aides and security contingent step back a few paces at a look from the governor.

"Gentlemen." The governor nodded at them as he checked his watch. "I only have a few minutes, but your call sounded urgent."

"Sir." Lou tried to keep his voice low, not wanting his aides to overhear until they knew who had made the funeral arrangements. "We don't think Steve was actually killed in that explosion."

The governor blinked and looked at both of them. "And why not?"

"Max ran DNA on the arm. He just got the results back, and it doesn't match."

"Is that all?"

"No, sir." Lou gestured at Joe. "Commander White overheard chatter about someone out to get revenge on McGarrett, but we're still trying to get more information on that."

"And now Detective Williams has gone missing after we believe he went looking for Steve." Joe told him. "That was three or four hours before Max told us about the DNA results."

"Wasn't Detective Williams in the hospital? Why would he go looking for Commander McGarrett if he still thought he was dead?"

"We think maybe he remembered something about the explosion."

"Why would he not have said anything to you about his suspicions? Why go off on his own?"

"He probably thought we wouldn't believe him." Grover shrugged. "After all, he has a head injury."

"So what do you need from me?"

"Who was it that actually made the funeral arrangements for Steve?"

"It was Jenkins. Calvin Jenkins. Do you think he's involved with this?"

"He insisted on holding the funeral just two days after the explosion. He could have been trying to rush it to lessen the chance of the investigation uncovering something. He probably hoped we'd just move on after the funeral."

"But why?"

"Jenkins," Joe muttered, staring at the ground. His head snapped up. "Jenkins!"

"You know who he is?" Grover asked.

Joe shook his head. "It couldn't be Lieutenant Jenkins, but I bet it's a relative. Brother or cousin or something. That means they've been planning this for a while, but planning _was_ always their forte."

"Who's they?" The governor asked Joe.

"Army lieutenants Alan Jenkins and Jonathan Peterson. They were attached to a unit near Steve's in Kabul for a time. He caught them blackmailing anyone and everyone they could get their hands on. One night he and Freddy caught them about to rape a young, native girl and stopped them. They were dishonorably discharged but no further charges were brought."

"I bet Steve didn't like that." Lou's face was grim.

"No." Joe agreed. "But he had to content himself with the dishonorable discharge. They vowed to get even, but it seemed like a hollow threat at the time."

"Not any more though." Governor Denning glanced over at his waiting plane. "I'm going to postpone my trip. I'll go back and have Jenkins' file sent to you. Maybe it will help you track them down."

"That would be appreciated." Lou nodded. "Chin and Kono are checking out cameras at the marina for further clues."

"Keep me informed, gentlemen." The governor turned his back on his plane causing aides to scramble in his wake.

"C'mon." Lou led Joe back to his truck. "Let's go to the marina and see what Chin and Kono have figured out."

H

5

0

Kono had a momentary sense of deja vu as she and Chin pulled up to the marina, but this time she felt a small sense of hope rather than despair. This time she felt closer to getting their ohana back. All the signs were now pointing to Steve still being alive, and she was no longer willing to consider any other option. She stepped out of the vehicle and pointed out the cameras to Chin, "There and there. The marina manager said they haven't worked since he's been here."

"Those don't look very old to me. How long has he been here?"

"Four years."

"Those look newer to me." Chin shielded his eyes as he looked up at the nearest camera, perched towards the top of the light pole. He glanced around and then pointed towards the manager's office. "See, there's one over there pointing towards the building that looks ancient compared to these two."

Kono tilted her head to take a better look at the closest camera. "I think these are wireless surveillance cameras."

"Let's hope they're low end ones," Chin said.

"No matter, cuz." Kono grinned. "I can hack higher ones, too. They just take longer."

"I don't know how much time we have," Chin pointed out.

Kono quickly set up her laptop on the hood of the car. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she worked her way into the system and began tracking down the signal from the camera. The longer it took, the more she mumbled to herself under her breath with the occasional "tsk" escaping as she ran into a snag and promptly took care of it.

Kono could feel Chin behind her as she worked. She could picture the look on his face as he tried not to peer over her shoulder. At one point, she gave him the skunk eye when he actually got so close he bumped into her. She knew he'd love to be able to help but there was no way he was going back to the office to use the Smart table. She took no offense at his hovering, totally understanding it while they searched for their friends. Her screen blipped.

"Got it!"

Chin stepped up to stand shoulder to shoulder with her to look at the screen. Then he looked up at the actual marina. "Can we tell where the signal is coming from?" He stared at the data stream running across the bottom and leaned in farther. He tapped Kono's arm and pointed. "I think there's another feed buried in here."

"How'd I miss that?" Kono let him take over and convince the computer to give them the information they needed.

"Don't worry about it, cuz. You found the feed. That's what we were looking for."

"Yeah, best I can tell is that it's close by. Probably coming from one of these boats."

"Alright," Chin muttered. "Here we go. I got it."

Kono gasped as the screen filled with the image of a small room, camera obviously mounted up in the corner of the room looking down on its two occupants. "Steve! Danny!"

Her spirit soared at the sight of their supposedly deceased friend now very much alive, but her stomach sank as she realized what she was seeing. Steve was stretched out on the floor reaching for Danny who wasn't moving.

"Oh, no, Chin." Kono squeezed his shoulder as her heart broke at the thought of finding Steve alive again but losing Danny instead. The picture was too grainy to make out whether or not Danny was breathing, but blurry or not, the distressed look on Steve's face was obvious as was his attempt to get to his fallen friend.

"Where's the signal coming from?" Chin frantically worked some more magic on the laptop before pumping his fist in triumph and pointing, "Over there! It must be one of those boats."

"Chin." Kono's voice held a warning. "There's a boat starting to leave the dock."

"The signal is starting to fade." Chin's head snapped up. "That must be it!"

Kono took off running and could hear Chin close behind. Her pounding heart had less to do with exertion and more to do with the desperate urge to reach their friends in time. They had no plan but nothing so minor would stop them. She increased her pace and felt Chin do the same.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Since today is an "extra" day in the year, here's an extra chapter for your day. See, I can be a nice person.

* * *

After Jenkins and the others left, Steve tried to wait patiently for Danny to regain consciousness. The longer it took, the more concerned he became. He stretched as far as the chains around his ankles allowed. He even resorted to lying down on his stomach and reaching for his friend, but Danny was maddeningly still just out of reach. As he stretched even farther, he felt the chain around his ankles pull tight. It was probably wishful thinking, but he thought he felt the chain stretch and perhaps even snap as he strained. Then before he could test them, Jenkins was standing in front of them, gun trained on Danny.

"Nice try, Commander," Jenkins laughed. "Do you think we're stupid? We measured those chains precisely. You'll never reach him, but you'll get a front row seat to watch him die."

Steve jumped to his feet as smoothly as he could without tripping on the chains, hands balled in fists at his side. "Leave him alone, Jenkins. He didn't do anything to you. I'm the one you have a problem with. Kill me, but leave him alone."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, Commander?" Jenkins sneered. "You always struck me as the martyr type, but not this time. This time you're gonna pay for your actions."

"Pay for my actions?" Steve strained towards Jenkins, eyes furious. "I've done things I'm not proud of, but putting you away isn't one of them. I only wish you would have truly paid. You got off light."

"Off light!" Jenkins swung the gun around to point at Steve, hand shaking. "My life is ruined because of you! They kicked us out. Dishonorable... wait, I know what you're doing, Commander." Jenkins chuckled and swung the gun back around to point at Danny. "Say goodbye to your friend."

Time seemed to slow for Steve as he watched. Forgetting about the chains, he lunged as he saw Jenkins' finger tighten on the trigger. What he'd heard earlier had indeed been the chains stretching and weakening. As he reached their limit, they pulled tight briefly and then snapped. The sudden release of the chains caused Steve to stumble slightly as he lunged for Jenkins. Just as the gun went off. He felt himself get thrown backwards as the bullet slammed into him. His last thought as he landed next to his partner, and before he lost consciousness, was that at least it was him and not Danny.

H

5

0

Even as Chin and Kono ran towards the departing boat, she knew it would be far too late. The boat was already at the end of the slips and the explosion had damaged a good portion of the dock which was still roped off. They pulled up at the end of the parking lot and looked around.

"Now what?" Kono threw her hands in the air. "We have to get to them."

Chin looked around, pointed and started to sprint away, "There! C'mon!"

Kono followed and then realized what he was thinking. A speedboat was slowly pulling up to a houseboat where two people worked on mooring it. The occupants of the boat startled as they ran full tilt up to them.

"Five-0." Chin held up his badge. "We need your boat."

"What?"

"We need your boat," Kono repeated. "It's an emergency."

"Sure." The man sounded less than sure. "How 'bout if I drive?"

"We can't let you do that. This could get ugly." Kono jumped into the boat with Chin following quickly behind.

The other man in the speedboat unwound the mooring rope but held onto it. "What exactly do you need the boat for?"

Chin took a deep breath. He pointed at the boat which had just left the marina area for open water and gunned the engines. "That boat is carrying two of our teammates. They're injured and in trouble. We have to get to them, but the men on the boat are armed and very dangerous. We can't have you in harm's way."

"You mean to board that boat?" the first man asked.

"Yes." Kono tried not to fidget as she became more and more anxious the farther away the boat got. "We have to get our friends."

"Then hang on." The first man turned back to the boat controls, quickly revved it up and started to back away from the slip. "You'll need us to control the boat so you can board. Hold on!"

Before Kono and Chin could protest, they pulled away from the dock and the boat was headed out again. The second man dropped the mooring ropes and shot them a grin. "I guess you're stuck with us now. I'm John and that's my son, Toby. If he tells you to hold on, you best do it. He likes driving this thing fast."

Kono grabbed the metal railing running around the speed boat and tried not to fidget as they headed towards the marina entrance. She couldn't stop from tapping her toes impatiently when they had to slow to an idle and move to the side to allow two small yachts and a trio of jet skiers to pass by. She winced at the whooping jet skiers. How could they be so happy when she wasn't sure if they'd get to Steve and Danny in time?

After what felt like an eternity, which was actually less than ten minutes, they were speeding out of the marina and into the open ocean. Kono looked at Chin and noticed the tense look on his face. She was sure it matched her own. She focused on the speck on the horizon that was their target, willing them to get there in time.

Chin leaned forward and tapped Toby's shoulder. "Slow it down a little."

"What are you doing?" Kono yelled.

"We have to look natural," Chin yelled back. "We don't want them to suspect anything too soon."

Their boat slowed to about half the speed and without it jumping on the waves so much, they finally realized that the other boat had stopped, or at least had slowed to a crawl. The cousins looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't know for sure, but it probably wasn't a good sign.

"Here." John opened a cooler and tossed them each a beer. "If you don't want them to know what's going on, you might want to sit down and pop that open."

Chin tucked his gun into the back of his waistband and nodded at Kono. He quickly sat in the nearest seat and opened the beer, raising it to John in a toast.

Kono perched on the edge of her seat, unable to sit back and look truly relaxed. She felt vulnerable without her tac vest, but at least she had the handgun tucked into her waistband. She felt ready to take on the men who held her two friends and had nearly succeeded in breaking apart their ohana. She lightly tossed her warming can of beer from hand to hand.

As they slowly cruised by the house boat, Chin casually checked it out. Kono did the same while pretending to take a long drink from her beer. No one was in sight.

"Alright." Chin nodded at Kono and tossed his beer aside and stepped up to Toby. "Take us over there and then you two get out of here."

"We'll stick around in case you need help," John told them as he stepped up.

"Then at least wait a good distance away." Chin tossed them his cell phone before heading to the side ladder Toby had pulled up to. "Here, use that and call Lou. Let him know what's going on and tell him to get down here."

"Wouldn't hurt to have Lou call in the Coast Guard just in case," Kono told them over her shoulder as she climbed up right behind Chin, noticing that John was already scrolling through the contacts to make the call.

As soon as Chin had stepped onto the top deck of the boat, he pulled his gun and looked around while Kono quickly did the same. He motioned toward the boat's cabin and quietly made his way forward. Kono followed. She reached for the cabin door's handle and watched for Chin's nod. At his signal, she opened the door and they burst in to find an open room.

"Chin, look." Kono pointed at a bank of computer screens. One staticky screen was labeled "dock" while another was labeled "parking lot". The third screen was unlabeled but was the only one with an actual picture showing. She leaned in to see the backs of three men who appeared to be arguing. Suddenly, one of the captors pulled a gun and waved it around. He stopped and seemed to point it at something, or someone, blocked from view by the trio. One man held up his hands, shook his head and then stormed out of the room, followed by another who threw one last look over his shoulder at the man with the gun. Once the two were out of the way, Chin and Kono could just make out Steve sitting on the floor, hand pressed to his left shoulder, Danny's inert form right behind him. The unknown man motioned with the gun. Steve struggled to stand up. Chin and Kono didn't wait to see any more.

"They must be below deck," Chin said as they exited the wheel house.

"I hope it's just the three of them." Kono quickly followed Chin.

As they were about to head below, Kono heard raised voices heading their way. They ducked aside, one to each side of the door and waited as the voices got closer. Two men stormed through the door arguing. Kono and Chin quickly shoved the surprised men up against the wall. The men were in handcuffs before they could resist. Chin nodded towards the corner of the deck. Kono smiled as she saw what he had in mind. Kono shoved them into the corner and forced them to sit.

Chin grabbed a discarded anchor chain and wrapped their feet with it. He then wrapped it behind them and weighted down their handcuffed hands. Chin patted one on the shoulder. "Don't go anywhere. We'll be back to talk to you in a bit."

Kono made her way back to the stairs to head below decks. Chin was right behind. They had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they heard voices from the end of the hall. They cautiously made their way toward the sound but only made it halfway when a gunshot rang out. Quickly followed by another.


	10. Chapter 10

Steve lost consciousness after the bullet meant for Danny struck him. He couldn't have been out for long because he came to as Jenkins pulled him roughly to his feet. Steve automatically pressed his hand to his shoulder, fairly sure the bullet was still in there.

"Stand up!" Jenkins jerked him up and then slapped him across the face. "Always playing the hero, aren't you, McGarrett?"

Steve refused to rise to the bait and simply focused on retaining his balance and not falling over.

Before Jenkins could continue his assault, the door burst open and Peterson and Calvin rushed in. Calvin looked shocked and quickly grabbed his brother's arm, "Enough! It's time to stop this, Alan."

"Why?" Jenkins pushed Steve away and rounded on his brother, eyes darting between him and Peterson. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we should get out while we can," Calvin pleaded. "You don't have to kill him. We should get away while we can."

Peterson shook his head at the younger man. "It's too late to turn back now. You've been with us from the beginning. You took that stupid job with the governor, and now you want to turn back?"

"It's just..." Calvin struggled to form words in the face of his irate older brother. "I didn't think you meant to kill him. Not like this... not like this."

Steve watched the scene unfold in front of him and gauged the distance to the door. He briefly considering making a break for it, but then his foot slid back into something soft. There was no way he was abandoning his partner to these maniacs. He refocused his attention on the gun in Jenkins' hand and wondered if he'd be able to disarm him and get a drop on the other two. It was a long shot, but it might be the only chance they had to get out of here.

"I can't do this." Calvin threw up his hands, turned and fled the room.

"I'll talk some sense into him," Peterson told Jenkins. He cast a longing look at Steve and then shrugged. "Do what you need to do. He's always been yours to deal with."

As soon as the door shut again behind the other two, Jenkins turned back to Steve and snarled, "I've waited a long time for... what's this?"

Danny stirred and moaned.

"Your friend's alive?" Jenkins chuckled.

Steve wanted to groan. Danny's timing was less than stellar.

Jenkins waved the gun. "Help him up, Commander."

Steve fought a wave of dizziness as he bent down to help Danny to his feet. He was sure they made quite the sight, but eventually he got his partner up and held him as tightly to his side as he could. He felt Danny loop an arm behind his back and hitch a thumb through a belt loop to help keep himself steady. Steve straightened and looked Jenkins in the eye. Despite the circumstances, with Danny by his side, they still had a chance.

"Aren't you two quite the sight," Jenkins mocked. "I'd like to draw the fun out even more, but our time together has come to an end."

Steve tensed as he watched Jenkins' trigger finger start to tighten. There was no way he could get to Jenkins with Danny holding onto him. Time slowed. Steve was sure he'd see the bullet coming for him. Just as Jenkins pulled the trigger, Danny swiveled around to embrace him. Steve was surprised at Danny's strength as he threw them both to the ground. Steve heard the gunshot meant for him. But even louder still to his mind was the "oomph" of pain from Danny.

Steve fell to the ground with Danny on top of him in a jumbled heap. All hell broke loose. There was another gunshot followed by familiar voices and finally hands. But all Steve had eyes for was his partner. And the blood staining his shirt.

H

5

0

Chin and Kono secured their two suspects and rushed below deck once again. Kono grabbed the doorknob to the room. Chin started to count to three but didn't make it past one before they heard a gunshot. Without another thought, they hurtled through the door. Chin took in the scene in a split second and fired his weapon at the final suspect before his brain had finished registering it all. All he needed to know was that the man had just shot one or both of his friends.

Kono rushed to Steve and Danny. Blood covered both men. Kono tentatively reached out and then hesitated.

"Danny?" Steve struggled to get disentangled from his partner. Chin saw him wince as he reached for Danny's neck. Steve huffed out a breath and hung his head. He jumped when Kono put a hand on his shoulder.

"Steve?" Kono's voice shook a little as she put her hand on Steve's good shoulder. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Steve turned his attention back to Danny but when Kono's hand stayed on his shoulder, he looked back at her. Chin saw the tears in Kono's eyes threatening to fall. She'd tried so hard the last few days to stay positive and not cry, but he knew this could be her undoing. Steve reached over to squeeze her arm. He spoke just loud enough for Chin to hear as well, "It's good to see you."

"I hate to break up a moment..." Chin interrupted. He found it hard to swallow past the sudden lump in his throat when Steve looked over at him. He'd spent the last few days being strong for everyone else and taking care of the team that he'd never taken the time to mourn his friend so suddenly returned to them. He felt tears pricking the corner of his eyes and ducked his head to avoid Steve's gaze and turned his attention to Danny. "Steve can you help get him off you? I wanna get a better look."

"How is he?" Steve asked Chin, shifting enough to finally get his legs all the way out from under Danny. Kono knelt next to Steve, hand still on his arm.

As if in answer, Danny groaned and started to move. Chin held him still with a hand on his hip while he tried to get a better look at his back. "Hold still, brah. You've been shot. I'm trying to see how bad it is."

Danny weakly flailed an arm as Chin gently probed his back. He mumbled incoherently and tried to pull away.

"How's it look?" Steve reached out to help steady his friend.

Chin took a closer look and let out a low whistle.

"What?" Steve leaned closer.

"No, no." Chin smiled. "I didn't mean to worry you. That's actually good."

"What do you mean?" Kono tried to look but didn't move much so she could keep hold of Steve's arm.

"It's deep, but it's just a graze. We don't have anything to patch it up, but it looks like the bleeding is slowing already."

"A graze?" Steve asked.

Chin nodded, trying to move Danny's shirt off the wound without causing more harm. "Yeah, a graze. I'd guess he was moving when he was shot and must've thrown off the guy's aim."

Steve nodded, swallowing convulsively. "Jenkins was going to shoot me, but Danny grabbed me and put himself in the way. He pulled us both down and I felt the bullet hit him... I thought... I thought he was dead."

"There's a lot of that going around." Chin threw a look at his boss and then held up a hand. "It's okay. Not your fault. Everybody will just be happy to see you again."

"Once we get out of here." Kono finally let go of Steve's arm and stood as they heard a boat's horn nearby. "And maybe now's the time! I'll go see if that's the Coast Guard."

Chin gave up on the shirt and started to roll Danny over. He shook his head as he gently prodded Danny's shoulder to get him to open his eyes, "C'mon, brah, time to show us you're okay."

Danny's eyes moved frantically behind eyelids which stubbornly remained closed.

"Doc said he had a concussion and hadn't ruled out a skull fracture before he went AWOL." Chin narrowed his eyes and again rocked Danny's shoulder. No response.

Steve nodded and moved a little closer so he was right up against Danny's side. "Chin, they kicked him in the head. He was out a long time. If he had a skull fracture before..."

"He'll be okay," Chin locked eyes with Steve and reached out to squeeze his arm briefly. Danny had to be. The alternative was simply unthinkable.

Chin waited for Kono to return with the rescue crew from the Coast Guard ship. He alternated between checking for a response from Danny and keeping an eye on Steve to make sure he was still hanging in there. Thankfully, it didn't take long before the rescue team hustled into the room. One look at Danny and they scooped and ran.

"Here." Chin helped Steve to his feet and tucked himself under Steve's good arm. "Let's get you to the boat, too."

The Coast Guard cutter sped towards the marina, medics hastily tending to Danny's wounds. Chin saw Steve wave off his own medic even though he could see the pain etched on Steve's face. The two prisoners were hustled aside and placed under guard. Chin and Kono smiled at each other as they noticed the speedboat with Toby and John cruising alongside. Chin raised a hand to wave them away, but wasn't surprised when they cheekily waved back and continued their pace alongside.

Chin was relieved to note the Life Flight helicopter waiting at the marina as they approached. The Coast Guard and Life Flight medics wasted no time, getting Steve and Danny off the boat before it was properly docked. The medics hustled the two aboard the helicopter which took off within moments of the boat's arrival. Chin slipped an arm around Kono's shoulders as they watched the helicopter take off.

"They're both going to be okay, right?" she whispered.

"Sure they will." Chin squeezed her shoulders. "I better call Lou and fill him in."

"You're going to need this then," a voice behind him said. "And that Lou guy said they'd be here as soon as they could."

Chin turned to find Toby standing there holding out his cell phone and smiled. "Thanks. I forgot, but I'm glad you're here. Thanks for your help. You guys went above and beyond."

"I'm glad we could help... and glad to see that Commander McGarrett is very much alive. I'll have to watch the news tonight; it should be interesting."

Chin chuckled and held out a hand. "That it should. Thanks, again."

"You're welcome." Toby shook his hand. "Glad to help."

"Chin, look." Kono pointed towards the parking lot and then waved as Lou and Joe trotted their way.

"That was Steve, right?" Joe looked after the departing Life Flight helicopter as if he could see the passengers inside.

"Tell us that was Steve," Lou pleaded, hope in his eyes. "He's okay?"

Chin smiled at Kono before nodding at the others, pleased to give them the good news. "Yes, it's Steve."

"What happened to Jenkins and Peterson?" Joe narrowed his eyes.

"We didn't get a chance to ask for ID's," Kono told them. "But HPD just took two of them, and Max will get the other."

"Good." Joe nodded.

"And Steve and Danny are okay?" Lou asked as he looked in the direction Life Flight had just gone.

Chin shrugged. "Steve's been roughed up. He took a bullet to the shoulder, but considering the circumstances, he looks okay."

"And Danny?" Lou prodded.

Kono bit her lip and shook her head. Chin put a hand on her shoulder and frowned at the others. "He looked bad. He's got a bullet graze across his back... from what I can gather, he stepped in front of Steve, tried to get him out of the way and took the bullet for him. But then we couldn't get him conscious again. Steve said they'd kicked him in the head..."

"My God," Lou ground out.

"He already had a head injury." Joe winced. "They'll get an x-ray at the hospital, but I'm sure he'll be okay. He's tough."

"Yeah," Chin agreed.

"What do we tell his family?" Kono asked.

"I don't know, but they need to know." Chin tapped his cell phone in his hand, thinking. He finally scrolled through his contact list and punched in the name he was looking for. He glanced at the others. "Besides, you know they'll come to the hospital, and they need a heads up before they get there."

"Good idea." Joe nodded at the others and they stepped away..

Chin took a deep breath, still formulating in his mind what he would say. He'd made some difficult phone calls in his time, and even though this was mostly good news, it certainly fell into the difficult category. And then it was too late to worry any more as the call was answered. "Oh, uh, Mr. Williams. It's Chin Ho Kelly... We found Danny... Yes, sir...He's roughed up some so I can't tell you much right now... Yes, he'll be at the hospital by the time you get there, but there's something else you need to know before you get to the hospital... We also found Steve."


	11. Chapter 11

Steve sat through the ride to the hospital, refusing to be strapped on a gurney where he couldn't see his partner. Without a headset, he couldn't hear what the medics were relaying to the hospital or each other, but they seemed intent on assessing Danny's head wound as they gently prodded and encouraged him to open his eyes. Without success. Steve had a better look at Danny's back when the EMT's successfully removed Danny's shirt. The long bullet graze made him wince. But it would have been so much worse for him if Danny hadn't intervened. He shook his head at the thought. Danny had been willing to die for him, but it made no sense. He was the one who got him into that mess. Jenkins and Peterson were after him all along. Danny never should have been a part of their beef with him. Plus, Danny had Grace and his large, crazy family. Steve had no one.

The Life Flight helicopter touched down on top the hospital and Danny was quickly whisked out of sight. Steve felt very alone without his partner.

"Here, sir, let me help."

Steve jumped when the pilot appeared and held out a hand to help him out of the helicopter. He nodded and allowed himself to be guided out as another team of medical personnel emerged onto the helicopter pad. Steve swayed slightly and patted the pilot's shoulder after the man steadied him.

"Here." A nurse gently grabbed Steve's elbow and guided him into the wheelchair he'd just now noticed. "You should sit until we get you to a gurney."

"I'm fine." Steve tried to shrug her off. "I just wanna go find out about my partner."

The nurse didn't relinquish her hold, forcing him to look at her. "You need to sit in the wheelchair, Commander McGarrett, before you fall down. Once we get you in an exam room, I'll go find out how Detective Williams is doing."

Steve thought of arguing, but his trembling knees and one more look at the nurse, made him acquiesce and sink into the wheelchair, unable to suppress a groan as he did so. "How'd you know who I am, and who my partner is?"

"Don't be paranoid, Commander." The nurse smiled at his suspicious tone of voice. "Half of the islands know who you are especially after having your picture all over the news the last few days... You're looking pretty good for a dead guy, I might add."

"So I've been told."

"And Detective Williams was under my care until he so rudely decided to check himself out AMA." She pushed him briskly toward the elevator to the side of the landing pad.

"You'll have to read him the riot act if... when he wakes up." Steve tried to force a smile.

"I'm not the only one." She gently squeezed his shoulder before they entered the elevator. She pushed the button and then turned to him and smiled. "But since he wasn't as delusional as everyone seemed to think he was, I think I'll pass on lecturing him this time around."

"This time?" Injured and sleep-deprived as he was, Steve didn't miss the warm tone as she said it. "You've lectured him before?"

"Well, no, not him exactly. My fiancé, Officer Robertson."

"Ahhh." Steve did smile then. "Got it."

The rest of the trip to the ER was quiet between them while medical personnel bustled around. Steve went back to wondering about Danny's condition and brooding about how his past kept coming back to haunt him and his team. He still wasn't over Danny taking the bullet meant for him. What would he tell Grace and Danny's parents if Danny didn't make it? He shook his head to dispel the dismal thought. Of course Danny would make it through this; to think otherwise was too much to bear. He refused to have that on his conscience and knew he'd never be able to truly eulogize his partner and best friend. What could you possibly say about a man who would willingly take a bullet and die for you?

"Commander McGarrett, how nice to see you." A doctor joined them as they entered the ER and pointed down the hall. "Room 3, Claudia. Commander, I'm Doctor Wong. I'm going to check you over and make sure your return from the dead is successful. I doubt I'll write any papers about your miraculous return though."

"Sorry, doc." Steve barely heard the doctor as he glanced at the clock and mentally calculated how long since Danny'd lost consciousness. He managed to get himself out of the wheelchair and onto the exam bed with the help of two orderlies, but didn't have the energy for much else.

"Claudia, make sure there's a room ready for the commander's ohana to gather. I imagine we'll have quite the crowd once word gets out. Come to think of it, perhaps you better alert security first and make sure word gets to staff that they do not speak to the media. Remind them that all patients are covered under HIPAA no matter how much they may want to share the good news of the commander's return."

"Don't worry, Commander." Claudia held up a hand as Steve started to speak. "First chance I get, I'll update you on your partner's condition."

"Alright, Commander." Doctor Wong began his examination. "I'm going to get an IV started and see what else you might need."

Steve tuned out the doctor's endless commentary on his treatment as he stared at the door. He knew he wasn't likely to hear anything about Danny for a while, but he couldn't help fidgeting, lightly tapping his hands on his legs as he switched his gaze again to the clock on the wall. The minute hand had only clicked once when the clock became blurry. He heard the doctor's voice. It seemed far away even though he was right there helping Steve lie down. He blinked rapidly. He couldn't focus on anything. His eyes slipped closed as exhaustion overtook him.


	12. Chapter 12

When Steve awoke, he was startled to see that he was in a different hospital room. A quick glance at the clock showed he'd been out for almost six hours. He noticed the IV line snaking from his arm to a nearby pole. He squinted at them to see that he was on antibiotics and general fluids. Not a big deal. He could have told them he was dehydrated and the explosion had given him some lacerations so the antibiotics were a precaution. He stretched slightly and started to sit up, intending to go hunt down his partner, but he noticed Chin, eyes closed, in the chair next to him. All thought of trying to pull his IV's to sneak out and check on Danny was quickly put to rest.

"Easy, brah." Chin's eyes flew open and he quickly stood as Steve sat up. "You'll get to see Danny soon enough, but you have to wait."

"I can't wait, Chin." Steve shook his head. "I have to see him now. They were supposed to come tell me how he's doing, but they didn't. I have to go find out what's going on."

Chin gently put a hand on Steve's shoulder to keep him in place. "They did try to tell you, but you were so out of it you didn't wake up. That's why I'm here."

"Okay, then how is he?" Steve huffed, frustrated at his body's limitations.

"He'll be okay." Chin squeezed his shoulder. "If he didn't have a skull fracture before, he certainly does now. But they don't think it's anything to worry about."

"I want to talk to him."

Chin kept his hand on Steve's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "He's still not awake."

Steve stared at him. "Still? Are they sure he's okay?"

"He's shown signs of waking a few times, but he's never fully regained consciousness. They think he's just exhausted and his body is overly stressed. The X-ray shows a hairline skull fracture, but there's no swelling on the brain or anything else to indicate a more serious injury. They think he could wake up any time."

"I want to be there." Steve tried to shrug off Chin's hand. "Where are my clothes?"

"Whoa, Steve, hold on," Chin cautioned. "We have a bag of clothes for you. Your others weren't worth saving. Your doctor said you could go to Danny's room once your IV's are done, but there's something else you need to do first."

"What, Chin?" Steve was starting to get anxious at all the restrictions.

"Grace and Danny's parents are waiting down the hall. They need to see you first. Grace especially."

Steve lay back onto the bed again. He hadn't considered how this might affect Grace. "Danny's parents are here already? How'd they get here so fast?"

"They came for your funeral, brah," Chin told him softly.

Steve was quiet for a moment. "My funeral? Why would they fly all this way for my funeral?"

"You're family to them, too, Steve. Plus, they had to be here for Danny. None of us knew how he was going to react and with him in the hospital after the explosion and Rachel off the island...well, Grace needed them, too."

Steve let that sink in for a moment and then relaxed back into the pillow. Sure, Jenkins had recorded Danny giving his eulogy and he'd seen him collapse. But he'd attributed that more to physical injuries rather than breaking down because of stress. And grief. Even after all these years and all they'd been through together, he still had a hard time realizing that Danny truly cared for him. Danny could be so loud and acted tough, but Steve knew that it was sometimes just a front for his deep feelings and the fact that he cared. He should have known that Danny wouldn't cope well with his death but would also never admit that out loud to anyone.

"Steve, you okay?" Chin leaned down and squeezed his shoulder.

Steve shook himself out of his reverie. "Yeah, Chin, I'm fine."

"Do you think you're up to seeing Grace and Danny's folks?"

Steve nodded and glanced at the clock. "Are you sure they're still here? It's really late. Maybe they went home."

Chin smiled. "Oh, they're still here. Grace insisted she wasn't leaving until she saw you. Her grandparents finally agreed if she promised to then go home and get some sleep and come back tomorrow when Danny wakes up."

Steve nodded. "Okay, yeah, bring her in then... I'm not going to scare her, am I?"

"It'll be fine, brah." Chin smiled. "They messed you up pretty good so you aren't as handsome as usual... so I'm told. But you still look pretty good for a dead guy. She just needs to see for herself that you'll be okay. It's all over the news, but she insisted she see you for herself."

"Wonder where she gets that from."

"Right?" Chin chuckled. "I'll be right back."

As soon as Chin left the room, Steve's stomach twisted. He was suddenly nervous that Grace would be mad at him. And what about Danny's parents? They flew all this way, and once again, he'd gotten their son hurt, and it wasn't even because of their job. It was someone out to get him. Danny just got caught in the middle. That stupid son of a...

"Uncle Steve!" Grace burst into the room and practically launched herself onto his hospital bed. She checked herself at the last minute but still wrapped her arms around him in the biggest hug she'd ever given him.

"Oh, Gracie." He stroked her hair as he felt her begin to cry and shake. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me."

It took Grace several minutes before she could pull herself away. She finally leaned back and wiped hair off her tear streaked face but kept one hand on Steve's arm, "It's okay, Uncle Steve. It wasn't your fault."

Steve grinned and breathed a heavy sigh. He pulled her in for another hug, "Thank you, Grace. I'm sorry I got Danno hurt. As soon as I can I'm going to go see him and make sure he's getting better."

Grace nodded against his shoulder. "Thank you, Uncle Steve. Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono told me you looked out for him just like he looked out for you."

Steve gently pushed her back in order to look at her and make sure she heard him clearly. "Gracie, make no mistake about it. Your dad saved my life. I'm not sure why he'd do that, but I want you to know that he's one of the bravest men I've ever met. I'll never be able to repay him."

"You won't have to, Uncle Steve. Danno didn't do it because he expected something back. He did it because you're his brother, and he loves you."

Steve swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and pulled her in for another hug. He squeezed her tight. Before he could choke out a response, there was a soft knock on the door followed by Chin poking his head in. Steve cleared his throat and nodded.

"C'mon in, Chin."

"There are a few other people who wanted to see you."

The door opened wider to admit Danny's parents. They smiled as they walked in, followed by Kono, Lou and Joe. Mr. Williams motioned at Steve when he tried to get up. "Don't get up, son. You need your rest. We just wanted to come in and make sure you're okay."

"It's so good to see you again, Steve." Mrs. Williams leaned down, and much to Steve's embarrassment, planted a big kiss on his forehead.

Grace smiled at Steve. She gave him another quick hug and gave him her own kiss on the cheek before she hopped off the bed. "Good night, Uncle Steve. I promised I'd go home and go to bed once I saw you."

"Thanks, Gracie." Steve smiled at her. "I'm glad you did. It's really good to see you."

"I'm really glad you're back." She took her grandfather's hand and led him to the door.

"We are, too." Mrs. Williams dabbed at her eyes.

"Yes." Mr. Williams nodded and grabbed his wife's hand with his free one. "And we thank you for making sure our son came back, too."

Steve never had the chance to respond as the door closed behind them. He looked around at his team, puzzled. "They do know I'm responsible, don't they? That I almost got Danny killed?"

"Actually." Lou pointed out, "they know you are most certainly not responsible for any of this."

"But..."

"No buts." Kono sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed his hand.

"HPD recovered video footage from the boat," Chin told him. "We saw you take a bullet for Danny just like he did for you."

Joe shook his head. "You two are quite the pair."

"Don't worry, we didn't show them the video," Lou chimed in. "But we certainly did tell them about it. That way, when you two knuckleheads start blaming yourselves, we can all remind you that none of this is your fault and you both saved each other."

Steve thought it best to keep quiet. He wasn't sure what to say anyway. He wasn't sure he should believe them, but he didn't have the strength to argue. Besides, he needed to talk to Danny first before he could forgive himself for almost getting his friend killed.

"Okay." Chin broke up the moment. "We're going to be outside while you get some more rest. Your doctor will be in soon. Then we'll see about taking you to see Danny."

Steve nodded and settled back into the pillows. He knew he should sleep some more, but he couldn't. Not yet.

* * *

A/N: I know, you're all waiting for the reunion with Danny again. It's coming, I promise. I hope this Steve/Grace reunion will tide you over until the next chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Well, we've come to the end of the story at last. I thank you all for taking the time to read and especially to all who left such wonderful reviews. I also appreciate all the follows, favorites and anyone who took time to read one of my other stories. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of your support. I do apologize for not responding to everyone who left a review - I tried to respond at least once, but I know I missed some of you and for that, I'm sorry. It certainly wasn't intentional, it was just RL stepping in and taking time.

* * *

 _Danny saw the houseboat explode and felt the heat on his face as the blast picked him up and slammed him into a nearby boat. He watched Steve disappear under the water and tried to yell but water filled his mouth, and he started to panic._

Danny bolted upright in bed, gasping for breath. He instantly regretted the action. Pain flared in his head, arm, knee, back... Everywhere. He eased back into the pillow and screwed his eyes shut to keep the tears from flowing. He'd been dreaming, but he was sure that what he'd dreamt was real. He'd seen his best friend die. He groped along the hospital bed rail and found the button to dispense pain relief. He pushed the button savagely and hoped it wouldn't take long for unconsciousness to claim him again. He hoped for a dreamless sleep to banish all memories of the explosion and Steve's face as he slipped under the water and away from Danny. Just as he felt the drugs overtake his system and sleep claimed him again, a small piece of his mind told him he was missing something. He shrugged it off and slipped back into darkness.

 _Danny stared down the barrel of the gun and refused to flinch. The man behind the gun was talking to him, but he paid him no mind. It didn't matter what was said at this point. He'd rather not listen to someone gloat as they killed him. He saw the trigger finger move, and just as he sucked in a breath expecting the bullet to take him, he saw his idiot partner leap in front of him to take the bullet himself._

"Dammit." Danny stifled a groan as pain flared from the sudden movement. He rolled over, punched the pillow before he hugged it to his chest, and squeezed his eyes shut again. Maybe he could disappear from the cruel world where he had to watch his partner die over and over in his dreams. A hand on his arm startled him. He pushed himself away, coming to a stop when his back hit the bed rail. Heart racing, he realized he wasn't alone as he'd thought.

"Take it easy," a hoarse voice told him as the hand pulled back. A soft light flicked on behind Danny's bed.

Danny squinted despite the dimness. He could barely make out the outline of someone sitting next to his bed. He started to raise his right hand to wipe away sweat and tears from his face. He couldn't move his arm. He realized it was in a sling and effectively trapped under his body. He tried to push himself up with his left hand but found it tethered and tangled with an IV line. He felt trapped. His breathing picked up.

"Let me help you," the voice soothed as the shadowy form leaned over the bed and into the small patch of light.

Danny gasped. "Steve?"

"Yeah, buddy, it's me." Steve grinned as he gently helped his partner maneuver into a more comfortable position.

Danny continued to stare as he settled back into the pillows. He scrubbed his left hand over his face, hissing slightly as the IV line pulled at his skin. "Damn dreams." He peeked over his hand and frowned at Steve through blurry eyes. He reached out a hand. "It's really you?"

Steve grabbed his brother's hand and squeezed. "It's really me. I'm okay, Danny. And so are you."

"I'm not dreaming?"

"You're not dreaming," Steve reassured him. "You gave us quite the scare, you know. It's been almost a full day, and you wouldn't wake up."

" _I_ scared _you_?" Danny blinked a few times, wondering if the drugs in the IV were making him hallucinate or mishear things. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the one we thought was dead. I did the eulogy at your funeral. My parents flew out here from Jersey. Grace was distraught that she lost another uncle. We _mourned_ you!"

Steve hung his head and swallowed. He tried to pull his hand out of Danny's grasp, but Danny held tight. Danny squeezed his hand and Steve looked up. A tear escaped and rolled down his cheek. "I'm sorry, Danny. I truly am. I'm sorry I put you through that - especially Grace. I never wanted to hurt her..."

"Oh, shut up, you big lug." Danny pulled Steve's hand to make him lean closer. "It wasn't your fault. I'm sure Grace is just happy you're alive. We all are."

"We're all pretty happy you're alive, too... after that stunt you pulled on the boat." Steve glared at him.

"What stunt?" Danny released Steve's hand and settled a little deeper into the pillow, cradling his injured arm close to his body.

"You know what I'm talking about, Danny."

"I'm sure I don't." Danny glanced away.

"The hell you don't." Steve chuckled. "What were you thinking taking a bullet meant for me? You shielded me and pulled me out of the way and let Jenkins shoot you point blank. I thought you were dead. Why, Danny?"

"As I recall, you did the same thing for me."

"Yeah, but none of that was your fault. You never should've been there."

Danny waved off that reasoning and shook his head. "After all these years you don't know why I took that bullet for you? Even after you did the exact same thing for me? I'll tell you why, my friend. It's because if I'm going to die, I can think of no better way to do it than by saving my best friend."

Steve stared and then smiled at Danny. "Ditto, my friend. Ditto."

H

5

0

Several hours later, Grace led the ohana quietly into Danny's hospital room. He was soundly asleep with Steve sleeping peacefully in the chair next to him, hand resting next to Danny's on the bed. Grace smiled along with her ohana as they looked at the two friends so recently lost, found, and nearly lost again.

As her grandparents, Joe, and her Five-0 family all settled in around the room, Grace squirmed her way onto the bed to snuggle against her dad, smiling as she grabbed Steve's hand without waking either one of the men. Nurse Claudia quietly came in and checked on the two men, also without disturbing them. As she turned to leave, she updated the whiteboard on the wall with her name and the doctor's name. She winked at Grace and scrawled "John 15:13" in the top corner and slipped silently out of the room.

Joe White grabbed the Bible out of the dresser in the corner after the nurse left and found the referenced passage. He nodded and passed the Bible to Grace.

Grace quietly read, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."


End file.
